By Glynn Wilson –
The American public is gradually turning against the big California technology companies and is coming around to the view that more government regulation of big tech and the internet is warranted, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject.
A large majority of 57 percent of Americans now say the United States government should increase regulations on technology firms and the internet, although there is disagreement among Democrats, Republicans and independents on how and why this should happen. This number is up from 48 percent in August, 2019, and shows just how disgruntled people are becoming with Google, Facebook and Amazon especially.
Surveys are finding that a 45 percent plurality of adults in the U.S. who hold a very or somewhat negative view of these firms, defined in the surveys as “technology companies, such as Amazon, Facebook and Google.” Only 34 percent still hold a very or somewhat positive opinion of them, while 20 percent remain neutral.
These latest findings are from a Jan. 21-Feb. 2 Gallup poll that was conducted in the wake of insurrectionists’ storming of the U.S. Capitol.
In response to the riots and former president Donald Trump’s social media posts, Twitter permanently suspended his account, and Facebook indefinitely banned him from its platforms out of a concern that he would incite more violence. Amazon and Apple removed the social media platform Parler, which was popular among radical, right-wing conservatives, as a result of similar concerns about hate speech and violence.
“The latest actions of these technology companies are not without precedent, though permanent bans are rare,” Gallup says in its analysis of the numbers. “Efforts by these firms to flag and eliminate misinformation were stepped up last year as the nation was dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the U.S. presidential election. As a result, some of Trump’s posts were fact-checked, flagged as false or misleading, or removed.”
Polling conducted by Gallup and the Knight Foundation in September 2020 found that broad majorities of Americans were concerned about a number of issues related directly to Big Tech, including the spread of misinformation on the internet, the size and power of large technology companies, online hate speech, foreign interference in U.S. elections and the privacy of personal data online.
These issues were among the ones addressed during congressional hearings last July and October with the CEOs of Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Apple.
Republicans’ and Independents’ Shifting Views
Republicans and, to a lesser degree, independents have much bleaker views of Big Tech now than they did in August 2019, according to Gallup.
Sixty-five percent of Republicans’ now give a negative rating to these companies, compared to 37 percent in August, 2019, and the negative rating by independents’ went up from from 33 percent to 44 percent in the same time frame.
At the same time, the rating given these companies by Democrats remain basically unchanged, according to Gallup, with 49 percent of Democrats rating them as positive, 30 percent as negative and 21 percent remain neutral.
“Republicans’ worsening views are likely owed, at least in part, to their perceptions that technology companies have an anti-conservative bias, given their actions toward Trump, Parler and other conservative-aligned individuals and groups,” Gallup concludes.
Rare Bipartisan Agreement
But in a rare show of bipartisan agreement, majorities of Americans across party lines now think the federal government should increase its regulation of the big technology companies. Sixty percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents and 53 percent of Republicans now support more government oversight.
The largest increase is among independents, whose calls for more regulation have risen 15 points since 2019. Republicans’ support for regulation increased five points and Democrats’ edged up four points.
“Not only is agreement among partisans out of the ordinary in the current political climate, but it is particularly notable for it to occur on the issue of government regulation,” Gallup concludes.
Gallup polling has long found Republicans opposed to big government and government regulation of business. Last September, 60 percent of Republicans, 35 percent of independents and on 16 percent of Democrats said they thought there was too much government regulation of business and industry in general.
“In the case of technology companies, then, Republicans’ desire for government action seems borne more out of addressing a perceived problem — anti-conservative bias — than from a philosophical view about government involvement in private companies’ decisions,” Gallup concludes.
There is bipartisan agreement about some antitrust issues as they relate to the large technology companies, Gallup says, although partisans disagree about how to address them. They also disagree about what regulations need to address, with Republicans focusing on the alleged censoring of conservative voices, while Democrats see a need for addressing misinformation and hate speech.
Both parties have indicated their desire to amend or repeal Section 230, the 1996 law that provides internet platforms protection from liability for what their users post. President Joe Biden, in particular, has been critical of the law and has said he would like to see it revoked, which may signal that a change that could happen soon.
